Rothkopf's National Insecurity: American Leadership In An Age Of Fear

National Insecurity

In National Insecurity: American Leadership in an Age of Fear, the author, David Rothkopf explores leadership during and after the 9/11 attacks in both the Bush and Obama administration. He keeps a moderate and fair approach when speaking of each, although he was part of the Clinton administration. As he explores the different administrations he argues fear drives different decisions. I can agree with this, based on the growth of national security and even the creation of different groups. I do not believe the immediate growth of an entity correlates with the immediate growth of power. The Bush administration was too quick to create and grow departments without digging into real solutions for problems. Instead, I believe, they created a huge Band-Aid in an attempt to not only calm their own fears, but the public’s. An argument one may argue for the immediate expansion of security is, it was too large to be efficient and too

David Rothkopf gives a brief distinction between leaders and managers and though I agree with some of his points, others I do not. I believer leadership is a natural trait one is born with that may be molded and sharpened. It is a skill one may imitate but not replicate. Whereas, I believe management may literally be a job. It is a skill one may learn from and is more analytical than leadership. To be President of the United States, one must have both leadership and management traits. This allows you to manage others whom give you advice on topics you are not an expert on and then choose, which is best. One can not solely rely on others to make hard decision they are not comfortable with as President. This is where being a leader comes into play. A leader naturally has the confidence to take all points of views and mindsets into consideration before making a difficult